Oral Reading Fluency (O.R.F)

---

Oral Reading Fluency is in every household when a new child comes to a family. Parents read books at bedtime for the first few years of a child’s life. It is the early development of learning the language, word recognition, and expressions. Children begin pre-school or kindergarten with the skills parents provided their first few years, but studies show Oral Reading Fluency reading drops by 48% in ages 5-7.    

Research shows family changes within the home, new siblings, both parents working, single mom, and dads, are factors for the reduction of oral reading. One of the major factors research shows is the digital growth within homes.   

 Recent analysis shows that the average child is only reading eight minutes a day in first grade, less than five minutes per day in third grade. While the time on digital media has grown to over three hours a day. The National American Academy of Pediatrics warns that overuse of digital media can put children at risk of obesity, sleep problems and negative performance at school due to the lack of time set aside for reading activity.   

You also might notice increased warnings of our education levels across the country by experts. Articles in newspapers and interviews on talk radio have experts warning about the effects Covid-19 is having on our children’s education. The fact that 66% of children are behind in reading skills before Covid-19 have parents even more concerned about the future of their children.   

For parents looking at a simple and fun program to help their children read, Reading to Daisy & Max is a positive program among all the negative stories. Our entire staff of volunteers use this program every day for our own children and grandchildren. Reading to Daisy & Max follows the FERPA guidelines and PBS best practices. We are all about getting children to read and help achieve bright futures based on a simple but fun program to promote reading.   

Try our program for a week, a month, or years. You might just be surprised how our unique format of reading to Daisy & Max is simple and fun but will have a positive influence on your child’s future for years to come.